Patient Tests Negative For Ebola

A patient in Edinburgh has tested negative for Ebola after becoming unwell on returning from west Africa.

The patient was being screened for possible infections, including the deadly virus, in the regional infectious diseases unit at the city's Western General Hospital.

NHS Lothian said the patient, who had recently returned to Scotland from the area, was admitted and kept in isolation after reporting a raised temperature.

A statement issued by the health board last night said: "The patient admitted to the Regional Infectious Diseases Unit at the Western General Hospital earlier today has tested negative for Ebola.

"We have robust systems in place to manage patients with suspected infectious diseases and staff follow tested national guidelines.''

Pauline Cafferkey was the first Scot diagnosed with the disease after returning from working in Sierra Leone in December.

The nurse, from Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, had volunteered with Save the Children at the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kerry Town.

She spent more than three weeks in a London hospital where she was critically ill for a time, but was released last month after making a full recovery.

The Western General Hospital dealt with a suspected case last month when a patient was screened for infection after reporting a raised temperature after returning from west Africa, but also tested negative.

In January the Scottish Government confirmed that seven negative tests had been carried out at the new testing centre in NHS Lothian since it opened in December, with only one proving positive.